Tribune News Servic
Sanjeev Singh Bariana
Chandigarh, February 14
Only 9,013 of the total 19,259 government schools in Punjab have internet connections on their campus, said Minister of State for Education Subhas Sarkar in a reply to a question by Member of Parliament Dr DNV Senthilkumar S during the Lok Sabha session yesterday.
The reply also read that 4,345 schools of the total 14,562 in Haryana had the internet facility; 5,160 of the 23,173 in Jammu and Kashmir and 4,175 of the 15,380 in Himachal Pradesh. The data showed that all 123 government schools in Chandigarh, 2,762 in Delhi and 422 in Puducherry had the facility.
Among the bigger states, the maximum coverage was recorded in Gujarat where 32,681 of the total 34,699 schools and Kerala where 4,738 of the 5,010 schools had the facility.
Dr Senthilkumar asked, “Whether the Centre intends to provide internet connectivity to all schools in the country?” He also asked the status of the progress till date.
The reply by Sarkar read, “Education is in the Concurrent list of the Constitution. An advisory has been issued by the Department of School Education to all states and UTs to enter into an agreement with the BSNL to provide internet connection to all the schools.”
Under the Centrally sponsored scheme Samagra Shiksha, financial assistance is provided on the fund-sharing pattern. Under the scheme, the annual plans are prepared by the states based on their requirements and priority.
Data of other states